Steelers Deliver a Feel-Bad Win in Foxborough

“I love what we do.”

“Me too.”

That was the brief exchange between Aaron Rodgers and Mike Tomlin as they walked the tunnel towards the visiting locker room at Gillette Stadium, a 21-14 victory over the Patriots having been sewn up only minutes earlier.

The quarterback was clearly feeling good after a late touchdown pass gave the Steelers the winning margin over New England, and his coach was in no mood to disagree.

Does a healthy chunk of this fan base share that sentiment? I doubt it. And they shouldn’t.

Sunday’s win over the Patriots brought the Steelers to 2-1 on the season, but did it do anything to change the tone of the conversation around this team? Did it do anything to change anyone’s priors about what this group is all about, and what they’re capable of?

No, no, and no.

If there is a team that can be more reliably counted upon to deliver frustrating victories that don’t offer much room for long-term enthusiasm, I haven’t watched them.

A complete win, against a good team, where the Steelers are in control throughout? Just doesn’t happen. There’s always something to complain about, always reason for concern, and Sunday was no different.

For the first 16 minutes of game action, it did seem like Tomlin’s charges might be on their way to a dominant afternoon. Cole Holcomb forced a fumble, Darius Slay picked it up, and then Rodgers marched the team right down the field for an opening-drive score.

The defense forced a punt, with Derrick Harmon making his presence felt, and then Rodgers led a 90-yard touchdown drive that culminated in a beautiful touchdown toss to D.K. Metcalf, one that conjured up memories of when Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown would toy with opposing defensive backs.

With barely a minute gone in the second quarter, the score was 14-0, the Steelers had run 20 plays and gained 118 yards, and had already racked up 12 first downs.

Game over, right?

Wrong. Of course.

Here are the results of the team’s next six possessions:

Punt

End of Half

Interception

Punt

Punt

Punt

Riveting stuff, right? But as you probably already know, it was actually much, much uglier than that. Take out a one-play kneel down drive, and the other five possessions produced a total of 20 yards of actual offense. They got 18 in penalties on the last of those futile possessions, and had 10 taken away because of infractions. They also managed a total of one first down in that span.

Meanwhile, the Patriots were busy shooting themselves in the foot. After a touchdown drive that immediately answered Metcalf’s score and cut the lead in half, they proceeded to throw an end-zone interception, lose a fumble on the one-yard line, and then, for good measure, lose another fumble near midfield.

What did the Steelers do with all those mistakes?

Not much!

Eventually, the Pats got sick of giving gifts and tied the game. Then they forced a punt, before Maye found his Christmas spirit again, and coughed up the Pats’ fourth fumble of the game.

Rodgers finally made that one count, leading a crisp march down the field that culminated in a perfect touchdown toss to Calvin Austin. The defense held, and the Steelers won.

Hooray.

I put out the call for open thoughts on the game after it went final. You can judge for yourself how the majority of people are feeling. I think the overall tone is pretty clear.

Thanks for reading Nine Straight Threes! This post is public so feel free to share it.

Here’s the thing. Most fans of this team aren’t watching each game solely for the result. They’re waiting to see if things are different, they’re looking for signs that this year won’t end in a 9-8 or 10-7 record, with a wild-card round demolition at the hands of a vastly superior team. The good/bad breakdown still doesn’t look promising.

Good: The defense forced five turnovers, including two in the red zone.

Bad: The offense squandered three straight turnovers, and did just enough to get a win.

Good: T.J. Watt racked two sacks, Harmon got his first as a pro, and Cam Heyward looked more like Cam Heyward.

Bad: Absent those turnovers, the Patriots moved the ball at will for the majority of the final three quarters. You could almost see Josh McDaniels figure out the Steelers’ defense in real-time. I think Hunter Henry just caught another pass.

Good: Tomlin eschewed a conservative third-down call and a field goal, and let Arthur Smith and Rodgers go for a knockout punch, and got the Austin touchdown as a reward.

Bad: With the score tied at 14, Tomlin punted rather than let Chris Boswell try a 61-yard field goal, which visibly annoyed the all-world kicker.

Good: The Steelers survived and got a road win in a place they hadn’t won since 2008.

Bad: The Patriots still kind of stink and are a work in progress, and while forcing four fumbles is a matter of skill, recovering all four is absolutely a matter of luck.

Watt, Heyward and company won’t force five turnovers every game. Chances are, they won’t do it again this year. They definitely will have a hard time doing it against the best teams on their schedule. It was good to see them show such an opportunistic streak, but I think fans would feel better if they resembled more of a, “You can’t even move the ball against us” type of outfit.

More worrisome, the offense still cannot run the football, or really move the ball with any regularity.

Jaylen Warren had an 11-yard run. Kenneth Gainwell had a 13-yard scamper. The other 20 combined carried for the two netted a total of 39 yards. The Steelers averaged 2.5 yards per carry.

Rodgers made a pair of beautiful touchdown throws, and zipped a few balls over the middle with some success, but the passing offense hardly looks like a juggernaut.

If anything, this game resembled the first 10 games of the 2023 season, when the Steelers somehow started 6-4 despite being outgained in all 10 games. They’re off to a 2-1 start under the exact same circumstances this year.

In other words, we’re talking about more smoke and mirrors, more “How did they do that?” and not “Wow, they look great!”

I don’t know about you, but I’m getting pretty tired of watching the same movie, over and over again. The ending might be happy, but the path to get there is anything but.